Bonny Doon School dedicates new science lab

BONNY DOON -- Swooping into the room like an army of ants, dozens of children swarmed around the results of a chemistry experiment, where flour, eggs, butter and sugar had been combined in the form of cookies.

The goodies, and cups of sparkling cider thrown in for good measure, topped off Thursday's half-hour dedication ceremony for Bonny Doon Elementary School's new science lab.

Now, students get hands-on learning in a sparkling new room filled with skylights, large whiteboards -- where slides inserted into a digital microscope can be projected for the class to see -- and even a miniature stovetop and oven.

The center of the room is filled with dozens of black-topped tables. The walls are covered by sleek cabinets, bookshelves and tabletops covered with recent student projects about plate tectonics, continental drift and spreading sea floors.

The ceremony was marked by speeches from a half-dozen officials and others involved in bringing the project to completion, including the school's principal, Stephanie Siddens, architect Frauke Zajac and former principal Gail Levine.

Levine said she and other officials toured other area schools during the planning stages, and realized those "labs" were portable classrooms without running water, or standard classrooms where desks were shoved together so students could share a single microscope. Bonny Doon's lab, she proudly announced, is "the only science classroom on the Central Coast."

"It's the dream room, and I hope it sets the standard for other classrooms in the Bay Area," she added.

Funding came from various sources, including a $17,000 donation from the Bonny Doon Community School Foundation, the fundraising arm of the 131-student school. Those funds will be used to pay the salary for Kate Sommer, a part-time science specialist who serves as a resource for the teachers and students who circulate through the room.

The lab also serves as the site for the school's newly launched Science Speaker Series. Each event features an area resident involved in some aspect of science who gives an hourlong presentation about their area of expertise. School officials hope the series piques students' interests in pursuing careers in biology, oceanography or astronomy.

At the inaugural event in October, a rocket engineer from Lockheed Martin gave a presentation about space flight, and last week, a UC Santa Cruz professor talked about chemistry, demonstrating how various chemicals react. The next talk, slated for Jan. 24, will feature a discussion hosted by a scientist with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute on deep-sea research and exploration.